The conference was attended by high-level officials from ministries of finance, state audit institutions and other government ministries/agencies, and members of parliament of more than 25 countries, as well as representatives from international organizations, rating agencies, think tanks, the donor community, civil society groups, and academia. The welcome address was delivered by Ms. Linda Fealing, President, ICGFM, followed by opening remarks from Mr. Sanjeev Gupta, FAD Deputy Director. (Download ICGFM conference agenda Dec 2012.)

Fiscal transparency was a key theme of this conference. Participants exchanged views and discussed good practices in fiscal transparency and accountability, including the state of transparency in the wake of the recent crisis; country experiences in implementing good transparency practices; and global norms, standards, and incentives for promoting transparency. A number of presentations were made covering these issues and highlighting good public financial management practices (click here to access conference presentations on the ICGFM website).

The conference also provided a useful forum to gather ideas for revision of the IMF Code of Good Practices on Fiscal Transparency and related manuals and processes. On the third day, a participants’ workshop was organized to get inputs on how to improve the structure and content of the IMF’s Code and its evaluation of countries’ fiscal transparency practices. A consultation process on the Code has already been launched by the IMF (click here to access the IMF consultation page).